“Choosing a broad legal strategy with national implications, gay marriage advocates on Thursday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down California’s ban on same-sex nuptials and declare all such state laws unconstitutional.
“In briefs filed with the high court, lawyers for two same-sex couples who challenged California’s Proposition 8 used sweeping arguments in a bid to persuade the justices to invalidate the 2008 voter-approved ban on gay marriage. The court will hear the case on March 26 and consider the federal government’s ban on same-sex marriage benefits the following day.
“The brief stresses that Proposition 8 had no social justification other than to “stigmatize gay men and lesbians — and them alone.”
“‘Because of their sexual orientation,” the couples’ lawyers wrote, “plaintiffs and hundreds of thousands of gay men and lesbians in California and across the country are being excluded from one of life’s most precious relationships.’”
